by jcastles | Apr 11, 2012 | Holiday Crafts
I have finally finished my spring decor!
I spray painted a grapevine wreath that lagoon color (LOVE!) and then I let it sit on my door naked for a week, lol!!
I then finally got around to making my flowers. Which really means I made a trip to Hobby Lobby. Made the flowers (tutorial soon!) and then my wreath was wet from rain….had to wait, ugh! Finally it was time to make it and I love it! It’s springy and summery! I might change some of the colors but I love it so much I might keep it up until fall.
I’ve shown this pic in another post but I added this vibrant flower. It’s my favorite by far! I’m really loving this teal color!
So there’s my spring decor. Simple, bright, and pastely (I know that’s not a word)..
by jcastles | Apr 11, 2012 | Uncategorized
Tornado pic from local news channel 5
Well….we had a very rocky start to Spring here in North Texas. April 3, 2012 will go down in History for us Texans.
We had expected rain and possible hail over night the night before the 3rd. Woke up and nothing….no rain, no hail, nothing! I took the littlest kid to school at 8 and picked him up at 11. It was mostly cloudy but we still had plenty of sun. I get home and since I wasn’t feeling well I took advantage of our brand new furniture (got it 2 days before that day). Since the rain was coming my allergies went CRAZY! So we were laying down and the weather radio goes off….warning about severe thunderstorms, no biggie–car’s in the garage. Laid back down with my comfy blankie and a few minutes later it goes off again! SERIOUSLY!! We have the weather radio by the bed because that’s the best place for it while we sleep. It’ll wake us up and not the kids (don’t worry….because we can wake the kids if necessary).
So after it going off multiple times I decided I wasn’t going to be able to rest and I turned the news on. All of a sudden there were tornado’s like crazy!! And I mean like crazy!! As of April 10, 2012 there have been 17 tornado’s confirmed.
The most amazing thing is this video….you can actually see 18 wheelers being tossed in the air!!!
[youtube]http://youtu.be/KqXbs0WU5dc[/youtube]
My entire family (even hubbs side) and most of my friends were were every tornado hit. We only had to take cover once but I’m so glad we weren’t affected personally by this tragedy. The one thing I wasn’t sure of was should I get my son from school. I wound up leaving him there. After hearing this woman’s story about her split second decision I now know that I made the right choice by leaving him there. Growing up in Texas my Momma always told me that you were safer inside a place than out. If your out find a ditch. These are the things we have to think about growing up in Tornado Alley. I left him there knowing they’d do their best taking care of my baby.
For more pictures and video’s click here.
My heart goes out to each person affected.
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by jcastles | Apr 10, 2012 | Family
I have FINALLY got my chore charts on the wall!! I got the chore chart from Leah Remillet Photography and the potty chart from The Scrap Shoppe Blog. I LOVE them!
Mine went through several modifications though. Don’t worry, I’m going to give you all the details!
First of all I printed the charts from the website I found and had them laminated at a local teacher store so I could use a dry erase marker on them (soooo cheap, 49¢!!). I got the clipboards at Dollar Tree for $1 each! Scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby. I chose paper the boys would like. They were on sale at 40% off when I got them, so 29¢ each! I already had mod podge so bam, I was ready! I did my best to make the paper fit (not that easy i tell ya!). There are imperfections….SHHH!! So I cut, mod podged and voila! I thought they looked great!
But the hubbs said no way…he thought it was ugly. So I said well what about a frame? He agreed to that. I found some awesome black 8×10 frames at Target on sale for $3.99 each but on sale for buy 1 get 1 1/2 off! Problem was my chart was 8.5 x 11.5.
So I cut them down…they are NOT straight, don’t judge! I put the chart in, glass behind it and kept the cardboard in there too. I wanted them snug. So I put them up….then oops! The frames I bought had the stand on it…no biggie I’ll remove it. Then I dropped one…on the tile and broke the frame (not the glass…the actual wood frame!)!! DANGIT!!! In all the frame craziness I bought wet erase dry erase markers–they had the fine point I needed. Well the steam from the oldest boys shower resulted in a complete mess. So nix that idea too….I used regular dry erase markers and it worked. Now I just need to find a super fine point tip set and I’ll be ready to go!
So we’ve tried and tried to come up with other ways to do it….hubbs just didn’t like any of my idea’s. So I took back the clip boards from the kids (I wound up giving them to the kids because what was I going to do with it…they can surely use it to draw on). So now my papers are shorter than I wanted but they’re up! Eventually I’ll re-print and re-laminate but for now they’re ok.
Just so you know when looking at the charts the ages of the kids are 18, 7 (8 in 3 weeks!!!), and 3.
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by jcastles | Apr 1, 2012 | Uncategorized
Well today in Texas it was 80°….on April 1st!! At 9:42 at night it’s still in the upper 70’s!! So I’ve been wondering…..should I decorate for Spring or Summer…lol?!!
Well I decided to go with Spring. Since it is Spring after all…sorta. I had bought paper mache eggs from Hobby Lobby last month (about 68¢ each). I had also bought some cute Springy scrapbook paper to mod podge onto the eggs. But that did NOT happen! Do you know how hard it is to put paper on an egg! HARD!! So I spray painted the suckers and I’m happy with the outcome. Then I used the paper for my frame. I think it’s cute!
My favorite is yet again my chalkboard vase (aka wine bottle). I love how I can change it so easily and it looks great! I’m still not quite done with my other vase but I plan on making a flower….just gotta practice and get it done. And yes I drew the flowers on the vase…it’s the ONLY thing I can draw, lol!! Next to the vase are the paper mache eggs I spray painted. I just chose pale colors we had in our stash of spray paint in the garage.
I’m still working on my wreath….but it will be finished soon!.
by jcastles | Mar 22, 2012 | Recipes, Uncategorized
A couple weekends ago I participated in a bake sale and cake walk for my 7 yr olds school. I made some awesome cupcakes and chocolate covered pretzels. Here are the yummylicious pictures!
The Cupcakes. I made 4 dozen! All using the perfect cupcake recipe by TidyMom and my buttercream icing recipe.
The Pretzel Rods–almost 50, I think!
They were dipped in chocolate or vanilla almond bark and topped with sprinkles or additional almond bark.
I had fun doing it but it sure was a lot of work. Now that I have all the craft punches and templates made it’ll definitely be easier the next time around!
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by jcastles | Mar 16, 2012 | Family
So today’s the last day of spring break. Let’s see…what did I do with the kids. NOTHING!! I totally sucked as a parent this week, lol!!
We went to the park a few times to try and feed the ducks….they just weren’t eating so that was a bust. We made cookies the other day and made peanut butter cap’n crunch bars (like rice crispy bars) today. We’ve cuddled and napped on the couch (uhhh, probably too many naps). But in my defense we had 3 repair appts this week so really half my day for 3 days was waiting on them.
So let me document the 1 memorable fun time we had this week. We ate lunch at the park! We’ll call it the lazy mom picnic! McDonald’s nuggets for the kids and I got a Subway sandwich. Pretty awful huh?!
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by jcastles | Mar 14, 2012 | Recipes
by jcastles | Mar 13, 2012 | Baby Shower
A friend of mine is pregnant and we had her baby shower this past weekend. I wanted to make this super cute motorcycle diaper cake for her but with all the other things I was doing I just didn’t want to mess it up and start all over….since I’d never even done a “normal” diaper cake, lol!
So I googled traditional diaper cake and there were sooooooo many tutorials. So many that at first I felt overwhelmed. As I kept looking at them I decided to just try it. Most tutorials said to rubber band every single stinkin diaper! Ummm, nope wasn’t gonna do that! So here’s my tutorial on making it easy! It took me about 20 min to make the cake itself and about 10 min to add the decor.
Items needed:
50ish diapers (I used 46 and they were size 2-pampers swaddlers; Bottom layer-25, Middle layer-15, Top layer- 6) I just kept adding diapers until it looked circle-ish)
rubberbands (I only used 3!!)
stick pins (6 at most)
ribbon (3 yds, i had a little bit left over too!)
embellishments (scrapbook paper in her theme is what I used)
scissors
12 inch wooden dowels (I used 2 to secure cake and 1 to add the name sign)
glue gun
cake board or platter (I used both to make but didn’t wind up taking the platter)
What to do:
Roll up each diaper and add to 1 rubber band. Yes all 25 of these diapers are held together with 1 large rubberband. The first few diapers you roll might need a roll touch-up towards the end since it’s hard for the rubberband to hold just a few at first.
Make your next 2 layers (remember each layer I only used 1 rubberband).
Next take your ribbon and add it around a layer over the rubberband. Once you wrap it around and it’s evenly over the rubberband add a stick pin to the bottom part of the ribbon (the part you started with. Pull the roll of ribbon tight and pin it to the ribbon on the cake and cut the ribbon (after where you pinned it).
Repeat for all layers. Once done pinning I took the top pin out and added a dot of hot glue, pulled the ribbon tight again and placed on top of the pinned ribbon, push down so the glue will spread and stick.
Add your dowels…somehow didn’t get a pic of this part. But all I did was shove them through the layers starting at the top layer.
Next add your embellishments. I used scrapbook paper and used a 2 inch scallop punch and a 1.5 inch scallop punch. I then used a glue dot runner on the back and attached the smaller circle to the larger circle. I then added a dot of hot glue on the back to attach to the ribbon. I attached the circles to the part of the ribbon that was cut so it looks seamless.
Next I had my hand dandy husband make a sign with the baby’s name and other images I liked. My favorite is the little boot prints (like baby feet prints). He made 2 of them so I could glue them together. I glued them to another wooden dowel with my glue dot runner and stuck the dowel down in the cake.
Voila…easy and simple looking diaper cake.
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by jcastles | Mar 9, 2012 | Birthday Parties, Family
Well I turned 32 the other day……it was a normal day, lol! Nah it was a little different. My hubbs had to work late so we decided to celebrate it the next day.
To start my actual birthday day off my husband got up early and made a trip to Starbucks (for my free coffee–sign up and get free coffee on your bday too!)!
Mmmmmm….then he left for work shortly after and I didn’t see him until after 9 that night. 🙁
So to start my actual birthday my husband brought home my FAVORITE cupcakes!!
Looks delish right?!! Well they were! My hubbs made sure I got 3 and everyone else got 1 cupcake (well except Jayson (my 3 yr old), he doesn’t eat cake—is he even related to me?!!)
So before we went to dinner I scarfed down a black and white….I needed it. It was a hell of a stressful day for me. So then we went to dinner….Casa Rita’s Mexican Grill. I wasn’t a fan but the drinks were good. And one kiddo had fun, lol!
But….it must all come to an end as everything eventually does. Sending thanks to my family for another wonderful Birthday!! Here’s 1 last YUMMY look…..btw, I still have this one. There’s no way I could eat 3 of these in 1 day!
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by jcastles | Mar 6, 2012 | Holiday Crafts
I wanted to share the few decorations I’ve made for St. Patty’s Day!
I used my same grapevine wreath I’ve been using since last summer! I just tear off (sometimes it’s a struggle, hehe) the previous decor and hot glue new on.
I didn’t have enough green felt so I grabbed 8 pieces at Hobby Lobby for $2.00. The Leprechaun and the greenery I got at Michaels for under $2.00!!! I used a cup, a bowl, and a wine glass to cut my circles out for the felt flowers. One day I’ll show a tutorial…lol! I then hot glued them on the wreath and stuck the Leprechaun and the greenery in the wreath w/out gluing so I can save those for next year!
Now…my favorite part of the decor!! My Mantel. I used some things that I’ll be able to use all of Spring so it’s not just for this month!
I used the same chalkboard vase (wine bottle) I used for Valentine’s Day…just wrote “Lucky” on it and drew a few clovers on it.
Next I used a mini wine bottle and painted it Satin Green Apple (by Rust-oleum). 2 coats and it was DONE! The best part is this vase will be good for Spring too!!
The vase fillers…..I liked the St. Patty’s day greenery so much I went back to Michaels and got 3 more things. All still under $2.00! These were actually cheaper $1.26! I cut the carnations to fit the larger vase and then just bent those and the shamrocks to my liking.
When I was at Home Depot getting my green apple paint I fell in LOVE with this other paint and HAD to get it!! It’s good for St. Patty’s Day (sorta..lol!), Spring, Summer and Fall!! Heck some people even work it in for winter! It’s called Satin Lagoon (by Rust-oleum again). Isn’t it pretty??
Ok ok…so you can’t really tell in that picture but it’s such a pretty teal! We had friends over last year and we were ummmm drinking…lol! Well I asked her to leave the empty bottle. It was all curvy and neat looking. So like 6 months later I peeled the label off, goo-goned the sticky, used paint lacquer to clean the goo off then painted it this LOVELY color (did you know I don’t paint the bottoms…why waste time and paint?!!?!)!! It’s still kinda hard to see how pretty the color is but it’s definitely one of my favs!
So you see that frame there. Well I got it at a local thrift shop for $1.99, brand new too!! So I got 2 cream ones and 2 navy ones for that price each. Figured I’d use them somehow and paint if needed! All I did was google shamrock and found this cute one. I resized it to fit my frame and printed it on cardstock and cut to the frame size.
So there you have it! My St. Patty’s day decor that will lead the way into Spring. I can’t wait to add some yellows and pinks in there! Maybe i’ll chevron paint the teal bottle with a pink! Oooooh, and a real pretty white flower will look awesome in it!
Don’t forget to wear your green March 17th!!
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